Apple’s Lightning chips contain manufacturer-specific serial numbers

A cracked version of the authentication chip could be blocked via software.

Does it seem like there are fewer Lightning-compatible accessories for your iPhone than there were back when Apple was using the 30-pin connector? That's probably an accurate perception, given how Apple has tightened up its control of its MFi Program, which the company uses to license the use of its connectors to third-party accessory makers. In a post to the New York Times Bits blog, Brian X. Chen highlights how Apple can see which accessories have been authorized and which ones haven't using unique serial numbers on their authentication chips.

Battery pack maker Mophie gave insight into the process: when companies sign up for the MFi program and begin designing a product, they must order a Lightning component directly from Apple. "The connectors have serial numbers for each accessory maker, and they contain authentication chips that communicate with the phones. When the company submits its accessory to Apple for testing, Apple can recognize the serial number," wrote Chen.

Mophie VP of marketing Ross Howe pointed out another party could take apart a Lightning-compatible Mophie pack and put the connector in another product, which Apple would be able to see came from Mophie's batch. If the chip were to be reverse engineered—which is possible, but not great, according to Howe—the unauthorized accessory maker wouldn't have an Apple-issued serial number like Mophie's. As such, Apple could block unauthorized accessories from working with the iPhone or iPad by issuing a software update, though to our knowledge, it has yet to do so.

This was apparently not the case with the old 30-pin connectors—undoubtedly one of the many reasons Apple chose to replace it with the new Lightning connector. Apple also argues the new connector allows for slimmer devices and a better overall design, though users with years' worth of 30-pin accessories are still feeling the sting after being forced to pay for new cables and converters.

100 Reader Comments

Rather than block, it seems more likely to me that they'd just pop up a warning saying "this device is unapproved and may not function correctly" (like I used to get when plugging my iPhone 3G into a 'Made for iPod' device.)

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but are the licensing fees to authorized manufacturers such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users? Are they giving a deliberate advantage to 'most favorite nation status' accessory manufacturers? What's the deal?

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but do the licensing costs such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users?

No. If there is a revenue aspect, I propose that it's to prevent other manufacturers from using whatever advantage Lightning would have over USB3, protecting whatever innovation Apple actually embedded in the connector.

Have we seen ANY characterization of what Lightning is the foundation for?

The vast number of accessories for the 30-pin was one of the great strengths of the Apple ecosystem, and certainly gave it a significant advantage over Android. I could understand some control in order to maintain quality and brand-integrity, but right now it looks like they're just shooting themselves in the foot.

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but are the licensing fees to authorized manufacturers such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users? Are they giving a deliberate advantage to 'most favorite nation status' accessory manufacturers? What's the deal?

edited for clarity and grammar

I think it's more a quality thing. No more cheap chinese cables or docks potentially ruining phones. And assuming they keep logs of what devices get inserted into a phone it might be simpler for them to track down problem accessories.

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but do the licensing costs such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users?

No. If there is a revenue aspect, I propose that it's to prevent other manufacturers from using whatever advantage Lightning would have over USB3, protecting whatever innovation Apple actually embedded in the connector.

Have we seen ANY characterization of what Lightning is the foundation for?

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but are the licensing fees to authorized manufacturers such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users? Are they giving a deliberate advantage to 'most favorite nation status' accessory manufacturers? What's the deal?

edited for clarity and grammar

I think it's more a quality thing. No more cheap chinese cables or docks potentially ruining phones. And assuming they keep logs of what devices get inserted into a phone it might be simpler for them to track down problem accessories.

I guess that's true, and in keeping with Apple's nature. Is the ruination of phone batteries by knockoff chargers such an epidemic though?

This disturbs me. I love my iPad and use it daily, but this level of control crosses some invisible barrier in my mind. It's one thing to have a closed software eco-system, but potentially having a closed adapter system?

I don't think I can support that. I guess I'll have to wait until either Android or Windows 8 tablets meet my needs, but I'm thinking this may be my last iPad and it makes me sad.

I guess that's true, and in keeping with Apple's nature. Is the ruination of phone batteries by knockoff chargers such an epidemic though?

I can't say across the board, but I know a lot of people using a wide range of cable quality (from $0.99 knockoffs to full-price cables), and I have yet to see any damage to the phones from any of them. Some of them were even mine; one was sloppily soldered together after being stepped on and crushed.

Based on everything I've personally seen, Lightning is a money grab. New, more expensive cables with negligeable compatability. (Yes, you can buy an adapter...that's a considerable portion the size of the entire phone.)

If this is to be believed, then it sounds like serial numbers are allowed unless on a blacklist. I suppose that will work just great until someone figures out how to make their unauthorized chips generate random numbers. Surely that will never happen..

Do consumers really not care about the lack of respect Apple shows towards them? Things like this really discourage me from buying Apple products. Sure, you have App Store lock-in, which is bad enough, but cable lock-in? Really?

Edit: Do consumers really not care about the lack of respect Apple shows towards them? Things like this really discourage me from buying Apple products. Sure, you have App Store lock-in, which is bad enough, but cable lock-in? Really?

Do you not care about comparing a company making consumer products to a man responsible for the death of millions?

How is anyone supposed to take your question serious now. That's what you edit?

I guess that's true, and in keeping with Apple's nature. Is the ruination of phone batteries by knockoff chargers such an epidemic though?

It shouldn't be an issue, since the charger is in the phone. The external power supply just supplies power; it doesn't actually control the charging process itself. That should be the case with any device that uses lithium-ion batteries, since lithium cells require very specific charging requirements.

Now with NiCd and NiMh batteries, you can literally just wire the input jack straight to the battery (by way of a diode), and as long as you keep the charge voltage below a safe maximum, you won't blow anything up. You can overcharge and eventually destroy batteries this way, however, so keeping nickel cells charged usually requires more Human intervention than with lithium cells.

- Serial numbers are encoded into the chip, which are tied to the licensee and used in their accessories.- Somebody buys accessory, cracks the chip, and makes knockoffs with the same serial.- Apple blacklists the serial number, preventing knockoffs from working.- Original customers - who paid for genuine accessories from that licensee - are now screwed.

Because, you know, charge cables are unlikely to support firmware updates to issue new serial numbers...

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but are the licensing fees to authorized manufacturers such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users? Are they giving a deliberate advantage to 'most favorite nation status' accessory manufacturers? What's the deal?

- Serial numbers are encoded into the chip, which are tied to the licensee and used in their accessories.- Somebody buys accessory, cracks the chip, and makes knockoffs with the same serial.- Apple blacklists the serial number, preventing knockoffs from working.- Original customers - who paid for genuine accessories from that licensee - are now screwed.

Because, you know, charge cables are unlikely to support firmware updates to issue new serial numbers...

Way to go Apple!

This is why it is flamebait. There is much supposing in there...any of this happen? Sure it says no but carefully crafts it so it seems likely.

This is something where apples lack of communication (excluding marketing) can hurt them. Nobody really knows, all we know is there aren't lots of lightning peripherals and it's been a bit ( not a long time but still) since it hit the market....

In my own experience, I once bought a cheap ($1.99) cable for my iPhone and it was no end of trouble. But that's just one experience.

Several problems with this article, though. One is that it's stirring up a lot of angst, when all they have is the potential to block, and none of it happening "to our knowledge." Fine, that's true, but sure seems to be making a tempest in a teapot for what?

Then I see the name Brian X Chen. Hardly someone I would rely on to be fair to Apple on any topic considering his past with them. He's got motive to shade stories to be more negative than necessary. Does he? I don't know. But it does raise a red flag for me.

Lastly, from what I've seen so far, it's not like Apple is making anyone go out and buy a whole new set of chargers and cables if they haven't upgraded to a device that doesn't use Lightning.

And another thing, with the lede of the story that bugged me. Of course you're not going to see the plethora of devices that are sporting Lightning. It just came out. How long before the iOS device accessory industry started really producing such things in large numbers? Certainly more than a few months. And there are still plenty of 30-pin connector customers to keep happy too.

I guess that's true, and in keeping with Apple's nature. Is the ruination of phone batteries by knockoff chargers such an epidemic though?

I can't say across the board, but I know a lot of people using a wide range of cable quality (from $0.99 knockoffs to full-price cables), and I have yet to see any damage to the phones from any of them. Some of them were even mine; one was sloppily soldered together after being stepped on and crushed.

Based on everything I've personally seen, Lightning is a money grab. New, more expensive cables with negligeable compatability. (Yes, you can buy an adapter...that's a considerable portion the size of the entire phone.)

I honestly don't see this as a money grab by Apple. I don't understand why they see this as an issue - I own several $1 30 pin cables and have never had an issue with any of them. Apple aren't likely to make a lot of money off this - so it's unlikely to be driven by cost.

My gut feeling is that it's about end-to-end control, which includes cables and chargers.

It's cheap compared to the Lightning cable ($11.77 vs $19), but not compared to other cables. HDMI starts at $1.97, eSATA at $1.29, etc. Even DisplayPort is less than half, at $4.75. Mini DisplayPort $4.12.

There is no single standard connector that does everything the lightning cable does. I rather like my phone not being covered in ports.

True, but the point is that it didn't need to.

The legacy accessories that depend on the 'dumb' signals passed through the dock connector (eg, speaker docks that simply pass through the line out signal from the cable straight to the speakers) couldn't have used USB. But they can't use Lightning either. Instead users have to attach a Lightning to dock connector adapter, which contains (among other chips) a DAC to take the digital Lightning input and outputs an analog line out signal over the dock connector end.

There's no technical reason why Apple, instead of selling a Lightning-to-dock-connector adapter that includes a Lightning controller and a DAC and so forth, could not simply have sold a USB-to-dock adapter including a USB controller, a DAC, etc.

Yes, new accessories would need to include USB controllers, rather than simply being able to pass through the signal from the cable. This would add a pittance to the manufacturing cost but would instantly open up use of the accessory to any other USB-using device.

This sounds similar to the killswitch Apple has on app store apps... Or the unsupported accessories Apple had for the 30-pin adapter Regardless, the accessories always work, but may no longer charge your device (for unsupported accessories). Apple's killswitch on apps has yet to be used.

There is no single standard connector that does everything the lightning cable does. I rather like my phone not being covered in ports.

True, but the point is that it didn't need to.

The legacy accessories that depend on the 'dumb' signals passed through the dock connector (eg, speaker docks that simply pass through the line out signal from the cable straight to the speakers) couldn't have used USB. But they can't use Lightning either. Instead users have to attach a Lightning to dock connector adapter, which contains (among other chips) a DAC to take the digital Lightning input and outputs an analog line out signal over the dock connector end.

There's no technical reason why Apple, instead of selling a Lightning-to-dock-connector adapter that includes a Lightning controller and a DAC and so forth, could not simply have sold a USB-to-dock adapter including a USB controller, a DAC, etc.

Yes, new accessories would need to include USB controllers, rather than simply being able to pass through the signal from the cable. This would add a pittance to the manufacturing cost but would instantly open up use of the accessory to any other USB-using device.

On that note, i recall seeing some dongles that could attach to ipod/iphone docks and accept bluetooth connections. This then allowing any music player with bluetooth (just about every smartphone, and quite a few featurephones) to play music via side dock.

There is no single standard connector that does everything the lightning cable does. I rather like my phone not being covered in ports.

USB with MHL seems to get pretty darn close tho.

Not really.

1) The MHL spec only allows charging current to go up to 4.5W (5V x 900mA). iPads need 10W to charge well (and with the Retina version, it's still very slow at 10W!).

2) MHL claims to be physical connector agnostic, so you're free to use the conventional USB connector as your physical form factor. That's nice--except that, if you do that, the MHL and USB signals cannot be sent simultaneously. Samsung solved this problem by...(drum roll)...introducing an all-new proprietary 11 pin connector! Strangely enough, no one is running around condemning Samsung for this heinous crime against humanity.

3) You'd eventually have to migrate to the micro-USB 3.0 socket, which a) is not backwards compatible with micro-USB 2.0, b) takes up MORE horizontal space than a standard USB 3.0 A connector (12.85mm vs 12mm), and c) is hard to plug in correctly without careful aiming.

This sounds similar to the killswitch Apple has on app store apps... Or the unsupported accessories Apple had for the 30-pin adapter Regardless, the accessories always work, but may no longer charge your device (for unsupported accessories). Apple's killswitch on apps has yet to be used.

I suspect that Apple will not use that killswitch unless it is a absolute last resort.

More likely they will kill the app in the store, but leave it alone on devices until they release a new firmware. This firmware can then break whatever APIs the app depend on, with the appropriate heads up to other devs that can still update their apps via the store. Much less messy PR that way.

- Serial numbers are encoded into the chip, which are tied to the licensee and used in their accessories.- Somebody buys accessory, cracks the chip, and makes knockoffs with the same serial.- Apple blacklists the serial number, preventing knockoffs from working.- Original customers - who paid for genuine accessories from that licensee - are now screwed.

Because, you know, charge cables are unlikely to support firmware updates to issue new serial numbers...

Way to go Apple!

Except the only part of that we know for sure right now is that there is a serial number tied to the licensee. All the rest is speculation.

I am really struggling to understand Apple's motivation in controlling Lightning accessories so very tightly. I accept the advantages of Lightning over the 30-pin connector, but are the licensing fees to authorized manufacturers such a big source of revenue that they can risk choking off adoption or alienating users? Are they giving a deliberate advantage to 'most favorite nation status' accessory manufacturers? What's the deal?

edited for clarity and grammar

I think it's more a quality thing. No more cheap chinese cables or docks potentially ruining phones. And assuming they keep logs of what devices get inserted into a phone it might be simpler for them to track down problem accessories.